I guess you could say that SpongeBob Squarepants is about as close as the U.S. gets to having the equivalent of Japan's Hello Kitty, in the sense that you can plaster its frighteningly cute face onto anything and it's more or less a guaranteed hit. (Full disclosure: I used to keep my pet goldfish in a SpongeBob aquarium. And that was, um, in college.)

So yeah, here's this SpongeBob radio and CD player, which retails for $45. It kind of reminds me of a twisted version of the old boom boxes that the "cool kids" used to tote around on their shoulders in the '70s or '80s or whenever it was before people realized that looked kind of stupid. And, yeah, these days maybe wearing a SpongeBob t-shirt would be "cool" and "ironic" in a sort of pseudo-indie, kinda-maybe-hipster sense. But a boom box with the crazed, maniacal facade of Mr. Squarepants staring at you and blaring loud music?

About the author

Caroline McCarthy, a CNET News staff writer, is a downtown Manhattanite happily addicted to social-media tools and restaurant blogs. Her pre-CNET resume includes interning at an IT security firm and brewing cappuccinos.
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